Control Line Navy Carrier — Dick Perry [[email protected]]
Eric Conley’s new models and muffler-equipped engines
ERIC CONLEY has been working with mufflers and 10% fuel for a while and is becoming quite successful in competition. If his placing in the Navy Carrier Society (NCS) 2006 Top 20 listings is any indication (first in Class I and .15 and second in Profile and Class II), he’s obviously doing something right.
The photos this month are of his newest Profile Carrier creation: a Chance Vought F4U Corsair. Designed from the outset for a muffler-equipped engine, the Corsair has a relatively short nose to adjust for the additional 4 ounces the muffler adds.
Also included in this column:
- A new Carrier trivia contest
- Carrier at the Nats
Eric used the Corsair to finish in first place at the Phoenix, Arizona, contest in October. It was the first contest for the model, and the high speed was even better than he describes in the following (17.5 seconds, 102.8 mph). Eric wrote:
“There are some airplanes that will just never make it to the winner’s circle in the AMA Profile Carrier event, and there are a few others that are just waiting in the wings to be built and flown. One of those airplanes may turn out to be the Corsair.
“It has several elements that make it easily identifiable, and if you capitalize on those elements you have a lot of room to squeeze the most out of the design. The wing comes first as the most identifiable feature, and the bend doesn’t have to be very big to definitely say ‘Corsair.’
“The airplane is blue and has this funny rudder that seems to be halfway between the cockpit and the aft end of the airplane, and it has what appears to be a long nose (it’s only long from the cockpit to the propeller). With those features, the 10 bonus points are a cinch.
“Other than the wing, it’s a very conventional build, and I just butt-glue the wing joints at each bend and it turns out quite strong. The Corsair is just an MO-1 turned upside down and painted blue.
“I’d better mention Henry Nelson’s Sport .40 engine that I use (with a different piston and liner to turn it into a .36). It’s an engine that goes really fast and lasts forever.
“I have been under the impression that the muffler was not quite as fast as an open face on my Nelsons but have not been able to nail it down to one or the other. I did turn 17.7 with my latest 109T, which is a little nose-heavy, and when I took the muffler off I noticed a clear decline in speed but did not time it.
“I guess that one thing is for sure, and that’s if you’re stuck with 10% fuel, the muffler is faster. When I turned the 17.7 I was running Powermaster GMA 10/22 fuel, and as of now it’s my fuel of choice. I used to run Powermaster 10/18, but after the rules change to 10 with a minimum of 20% oil the only thing I could find was 10/22.
“One of the big unseen penalties is the weight of the Ultra Thrust muffler, which is almost 4 ounces. This Corsair weighs 46 ounces, and I sure wish it were 42 ounces instead.
“I’m building a second Corsair now that I hope will be less than 46 ounces, more like 43, but there is a strange phenomena about the airplanes I build in that they all weigh 46 ounces whether Profile, Class I, Class II. Only my .15s turn out less.”
Eric calls his model a “Corsair,” not an “F4U,” so it could actually be modeled after any of the many designators used for the Corsair. Here’s the trivia contest question: How many different designators were used for the Corsair? I’ll award a year’s free membership in the NCS (and mention in this column, of course) to the reader who can identify the most — with references for the most obscure, please. You won't get credit for it if I can't verify it!
The rules are simple. I won't count all the minor variations for engine, special equipment, different canopy designs, fuel capacity, etc., that produced a string of "dash" variations after the basic designator (such as F4U-1, F4U-1A, F4U-5, and F4U-5N). I won't count the experimental variants, e.g., XF4U and XF4U-1, as separate designators. In case of a tie I'll select the winner with a random drawing.
I will award another free NCS membership to the reader who can tell me when a "Corsair" was not a "Corsair." You figure out the rules on that question. I reward for creativity as well as diligent research.
Nats
Melvin Schuette will be the Navy Carrier event director at the National Aeromodeling Championships this summer. Thanks, Melvin!
As I am writing this in January, we still need a couple volunteers for judging and assisting with Nats administration. If you are interested, please let me know or contact Melvin at [email protected] or (785) 256-2583.
The events are on a schedule we've grown accustomed to through the years. Profile Carrier (and NCS-sponsored Sportsman Profile) will fly Thursday, July 12, with processing Wednesday evening.
Friday is Class I and Class II, followed by the NCS banquet that evening. Saturday includes Nostalgia Carrier (Profile, Class I, and Class II), .15 Carrier, and Skyray Carrier.
NCS officers and membership
The NCS has new officers for 2007.
- President: Dick Perry
- Vice President: Bob Frogner
- Secretary/Treasurer: Ted Kraver
- Hi-Low Landings editor: Gary Hull
Membership is only $6 for E-mail delivery of the bimonthly newsletter. To join, contact: Ted Kraver 225 W. Orchid Ln. Phoenix, AZ 85021
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
